Improvement in mounting field-ordnance



. A 2 SheetsSheet 1. W. F. GOODWIN.

Gun-Carriage.

No. 39,914. Patented Sept. 15, 1863.

N.FET RS, FHOTOUTHOGRAPHER, WASH|NGTON. D c.

2 Sheets:-Sheet 2.. W. F. GOODWIN.

Gun flarriage. No. 39,914. Patented Sept. 15, 1863.

N. PEERS, PHDTOLINDGRAPNZR. WASHINGTON. uc.

Nrrnn Srarns Pnrnnr rrreni VILLIAM F. GOODWIN, OF POVHAIAN, OI-IIO.

Spccificatiou forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,9ll41, dated September 15, 1803.

T0 a ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. Goonwrn, of Powhatan, in the county of Belmont and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mounting Field and other Ordnance; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a plan of the principal parts of the carriage of a field-piece with myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a backview of the turn-table and a section of the stock.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists, first, in so arranging the piece, with its trunnions, in sliding bearings upon a turn-table, and the turn-table upon the axle, that the movement of the gun to obtain the proper elevation is made upon the axle and not upon the trunnions, and the recoil of the gun is permitted to be directly in line or parallel with its borc.

It also consists in a certain mode of combin ing the upper and lower platos of the turntable, that the center pin or bolt about which the upper plate turns is relieved of strain; and it further consists in an improved mode of combining the elevating-screw with the turu table.

To enable others skilled in the art to. make and use my invention, I will proceed to de scribc its construction and operation.

A is the axle, and B the stock, combined in the usual manner. C is the bottom plate, and D the top plate, of the turn-table. The lower plate, C, is furnished underneath with plumberblocks aone on each side-which are fitted to journals p, turned on the axle, the said journals being cased with metal to prevent them from wearing too rapidly by the friction of the plumber-blocks. The said plate C is also furnished on its upper side with an annular projection, I), which fits snugly but easily into an annular groove, c, in the lower side of the upper plate, the said projection and groove serving to keep the upper plate in place as it turns upon the lower one. The two platos are connected by a central bolt, d, with which the projection b and groove c are concentric, the said bolt serving to hold down rection.

the upper plate, but being freed from all strain in the recoil of the gun by the projection b and groove c. On the top of the upper plate, D, there are provided, at equal distances from its center, guidese e for the trunnion-bearings f f, the said guides being parallel with each other and with the flat surface of the said plate. The trunnion-bearings f f are arranged to slide in these guides, and a thiclt spring, g, of india-rubber or other material, is applied behind each bearing to receive the recoil of the piece, and a thinner spring, h, is applied in front to receive the secondary or reactionary recoil, which takes place in a forward di The upper plate, D, has provided in it an are-formed slot, i, eoncentric with the bolt d, for the passage through it of a screw-bolt, j, which is attached to the lower plate, C, anda nut, k, is applied to the upper end of this bolt, the movement of the gun in a lateral direction being obtained by the movement of the plate D without disturbing the lower part of the carriage. Vhen the sighting or lateral adjustment of the gun has been completed, the nut k is screwed down,

and the two platos D U are thereby locked together. The breech of the piece rests upon the upper plano surface of the plate D, which is parallel with the bore of the gun, and it slides thereon in the recoil of the piece.

E is the elevatingscrew, screwing through a nut, Z, in the stock, and provided with a spherical head, a, which fits to a groove, m, of

corresponding form, iu the back part of the under side of the lower plate, C, of the turn table. In the upward and downward move ment of the screw E to adjust the elevation of the gun, the head n slides back and forth in the groove m, which by its form and the form of the head n makes a permanent connection between the screw and the turn-table, which allows the screw to draw down as well as elevate the rear end of the table.

In adjusting the elevation of the gun by the screw E, the turn-table moves upon the journals p of the axle, leaving the gun undisturbed upon the turn-table, which permits the adjustment of the gun laterally without disturbing the lower part of the carriage. In the recoil which.is produced by the discharge, the gun slides back upon the upper plano surface of the turntable on a line parallel with the bore of the gun. The recoil,bcing received by the springs g, does not move the earriage, but

\ when the gun,is brought forward by the Springs after the reooil, the secondary or re actionary recoil which takes place gives the carriage a very s1ight forward movement.

I do not claim, broadly, the application of a, turn-table to a gun, nor the application of recoil-springs g h in front of and behind the trunnions of a gun but What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the laterallyadjustable grooved plate D and the trun nion and springguides e With the vertieallyadjustable plate C, tongue b, ax1e A, and serew E, all construeted and operating as herein sh0vn and described.

WM. n. GOODWN.

Witnesses:

I. W. COOMBS, 1NI. S. PARTRIDGE. 

